The capsized cruise liner Costa Concordia lies on its side next to Giglio Island September 16, 2013. 

People look on as the capsized cruise liner Costa Concordia lies on its side next to Giglio Island September 16, 2013. 

The delay was due to an early morning storm that pushed back the righting salvage operation

The capsized cruise liner Costa Concordia lies on its side during the "parbuckling" operation next to Giglio Island. September 16, 2013. Salvage crews shifted the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship slowly off a rock shelf on Monday in a painstaking process that looked set to continue into the early hours of the morning. 

The wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise ship begins to emerge from the water

Salvage workers continue to raise the ship, in the largest and most expensive maritime salvage operation in history

The severely damaged side of the ship is visible after the parbuckling operation succesfully lifted it from the water at around 4am

The wreck is rotated into an upright position using a series of cables and hydraulic machines

A close-up the damage to the side of the Costa Concordia

The wreck of the Costa Concordia at dawn

Water damage to the ship

The Costa Concordia after it was was pulled completely upright early on Tuesday

Thirty-two people died when the ship, with 4,200 passengers on board, hit rocks and ran aground off the island of Giglio in January 2012

The previously submerged part of the ship is visible

Members of the US salvage company Titan and Italian firm Micoperi pass the wreckage

The cruise liner after the 19-hour-long salvage operation

The goal is to raise it from its side by 65 degrees to vertical, as a ship would normally be, for eventual towing. The operation was expected to take some 10-12 hours, with the initial hours winching the ship off the reef imperceptible to the unaided eye.

The operation, known in nautical parlance as parbuckling, is a proven method to raise capsized vessels

For over a year, residents of the fishing island have watched from shore as cranes and barges have moved into place to try to remove the hulk from their port. A few dozen gathered with a large contingent from the world's media on a breakwater to witness the operation getting underway, while others glimpsed it from shore as they went about their daily business.

The first couple of hours will be critical, engineers predicted. Pieces of the granite seabed are embedded in the submerged side of the hull, which divers haven't been able to fully inspect.

Debris is contained

The reef sliced a 70-metre-long (230-foot) gash into what is now the exposed side off the hull, letting seawater rush in

People attend a procession of Saint Mamiliano at Giglio Castle on Giglio Island

Reporters watch the Costa Concordia ship lying on its side on the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Italy

Workers stand in front of the Costa Concordia ship lying on its side off the coast of the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Italy

The wreck of Italy's Costa Concordia cruise ship begins to emerge from water.

The wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise ship emerges from the sea near the harbour of Giglio Porto.

Rust and debris cover the side of the ship that had been submerged for more than a year

Members of the Titan Salvage team watch proceedings from a safe distance

Nick Sloan, right, senior salvage master of Titan-Micoperi, celebrates with workers after the rotation of the wreck

A luxury cruise liner, the Costa Concordia, ran aground off the coast of Tuscany, killing at least 11 people and forcing some 4,200 people on board to evacuate

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cast Raising the Costa Concordia

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